Activision’s developer, Infinity Ward, officially dropped the reveal trailer for its next Call of Duty game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The game is a sequel to 2023’s rebooted Modern Warfare III and picks up sometime after that.
A New Korean War
According to the official overview, Modern Warfare 4 will put players in the shoes of several characters, with the main premise of the game taking place in the Korean Peninsula. The first character is a South Korean soldier called Private Park, who is embedded with a scouting element comprising US and South Korean troops.
The opening premise of the trailer more or less sets the tone of the game: while on routine patrol, the mixed US-South Korean unit became the first casualties of a war, implied to have been started by neighbouring North Korea. The city they’re in experiences a blackout, and is quickly followed by a barrage of missile attacks, leaving them pinned down and shell-shocked.
The trailer also reveals that Modern Warfare 4 will put players in the shoes of an unnamed North Korean soldier and more specifically, a special forces operative, given how they’re inserting into the South Korean city via air. Also, it is implied that these soldiers have been given modern equipment, including a highly specialised arsenal and Night Vision Googles (NVGs) that give off the “red means bad guy” backlight.
On a sidebar, and to get a little analytical and political, the timing in Modern Warfare 4 feels a little on the nose, especially with the tech that the North Koreans are getting since the country got involved in the current Ukraine war in 2024. In return for sending soldiers (among other things) to fight for the Russian side, Russia reportedly gave the country food, weapons, and its technology.
And while it hasn’t been explicitly mentioned, within that package, the North Korean also got something else as a byproduct: soldier who, by surviving, became veterans, and with that veterancy, also had combat experience imparted on them. Would make sense that, even in a fictional world, Infinity Ward would want to present an enemy or army that has longed been portrayed as lame, to be better equipped for modern warfare.
Price Goes Rogue
It’s just not a Modern Warfare game without the series’ anchor character, Price. Activision says that a third of the missions will see players controlling Captain Price, who has gone from soldier to wanted war criminal due to him killing General Shepherd at the end of Modern Warfare III. Snippets of the reveal trailer shows Price on the run, clearly on a warpath and on the hunt for someone, and while it isn’t outright mentioned, he’s likely on the hunt for the one criminal that got away in the last game: Makarov.
Price isn’t holding back either, and he’s clearly not above doing whatever it takes, even if it means committing acts of war. Yeah, Price got even more edgy.
Who’s Returning?
Besides Price and the new characters, there are a handful of characters returning from the previous installments. Some expected, and so far, one unexpected.
The first returning cast member of Task Force 141 (likely disavowed at this point, just like in the original Modern Warfare 3) is CIA station chief Kate Laswell. We don’t actually see her in the trailer, but you can hear her throughout, having a heated conversation with Price.
Simon Riley, famously known as the Skull-painted balaclava-wearing operative Ghost, has also returned in Modern Warfare 4 and is seen nearing the end of the trailer, and is also a special edition character skin the game’s Operator Pack. The trailer also makes it clear that he and Price are now on opposing sides, although for how long, we’ll have to wait until the game comes out to see.
The one character that we didn’t quite expect to see is Valerian Garza, also known as El Sin Nombre (The Nameless One) from Modern Warfare II, who is also known by COD fans as “Cartel Mommy”. It’s unclear what her role in the whole Modern Warfare 4 is, but since her breakout from Mexican prison and cooperating with the Konni Group, it looks like she’s been selling her skills out to the highest bidder.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is slated for a 23 October launch, with a gameplay reveal trailer set to drop on 7 June. The game will be coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and the Nintendo Switch 2.
And yes, there will most definitely be multiplayer.
(Source: Call of Duty)
